Taking Testing Seriously

CHAPTER 3How to Do a Test

—By James Bach and Michael Bolton

The Process of Testing

The Rapid Software Testing methodology is a mindset and a skill set. It is not a bunch of templates and rules—although we do collect and share various testing heuristics. This methodology is organized around a particular belief about what the word “testing” means on projects. Discovering the full implications of that word has required decades of sifting through many disciplines.¹

Therefore, with almost forty years of preparation behind us, we (James and Michael) will now propose that the essence of testing, in a word, is science. Science itself is testing. While natural scientists study the physical world and build theories about it, testers study artificial worlds and their relationships to the people we serve. Otherwise, it's the same kind of thing.

That's the start. Let's go deeper.

Cognitive scientists, sociologists of science, and epistemological philosophers have looked closely at the things scientists do. Historian Thomas Kuhn argued² that normal science is based on puzzle-solving and is bound within strong social norms. Philosopher³ Karl Popper argued⁴ that the essence of science is the process of making bold conjectures, then attempting to refute them. Nobel laureate Herbert Simon argued⁵ that science proceeds via a heuristic search process rather than unbounded rationality. Sociologist Harry Collins showed⁶ that practicing scientists possess foundational tacit knowledge that can only ...